


A nightly encounter

by schrijverr



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Historical, Pirates, Ship, Sirens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24188020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schrijverr/pseuds/schrijverr
Summary: The cabin boy is scrubbing the deck late at night, while I am on guard duty. There is an odd air around him and I am not sure what to make of our encounter.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	A nightly encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys, I haven’t posted something here in a hot minute, but I wanted to try something new. I used to post writing prompt and other original stuff on my tumblr and I really liked doing that, so this is an original piece and not something I usually write, but I hope you enjoy it none the less.
> 
> This work is also posted on my tumblr, which is also @schrijverr. Hope you pop in and say hi!!

The night was dark, but the sky was alight with stars twinkling high above the inky seas. It wasn’t quiet, but it was calm aboard _The Sirens Call_. No one was on the deck except me and the cabin boy, Seán. Seán had been scrubbing the deck for hours now, the poor lad had been caught by the captain while taking a nap and he had been punished to scrub until he collapsed, but he hadn’t seem too bothered by it. Honestly, Seán didn’t seem bothered by a lot of things.

He was just scrubbing the deck and softly humming under his breath. I don’t think he even noticed me as I stood there, rooted to the wood beneath my feet and enthralled by him. The humming was like the waves hitting the sides of the ship and his scrubbing movements were fluid like the water. If you asked me, I couldn’t tell you how long I stood there, just listening to the humming and watching him scrub instead of the vast seas I should be scanning for danger. I also can’t recall when the humming turned into soft singing.

_Sailer come close,_  
_don’t look down just smile at me_  
_one step more will not hurt_  
_Sailer come close_  
_I promise to fulfill your dreams_  
_all I ask is just one step_

_The rail is close, the water cold_  
_yet my embrace is warm_  
_I waited here for you_  
_years and eons passed_  
_but now you’re here_  
_and my arms await you_  
_The light is bright, the waves soft_

_Sailor come close,_  
_don’t look down just come to me_  
_one step and it is done_  
_Sailor come close_  
_all my promises were empty_  
_now resist my siren call_

The melody was haunting as his beautiful voice sang a misleading song. It was calm, like Seán always was, as calm as the sea on a lovely summers eve, but a good sailor knows how deceiving that calm can be.

Yet, the song was familiar, although I could not place it. It was a memory jogged at the edge of my consciousness, a word on the tip of my tongue, a sound I could barely hear. Stupidly, I opened my mouth and asked him how he had learned the song and where it was from.

His head twisted up at an almost unnatural speed as he looked at me with big eyes that seemed to glow in the night, his whole body tensed up. When he saw me, he visibly relaxed. Instead of answering my question, however, he asked in return how long I had been listening.

I wanted to ignore his question and ask mine again, my curiosity was piqued and I wanted to scratch that itch in my brain I couldn’t seem to reach. But when I heard his voice, I couldn’t help, but tell him that I didn’t know, but that when I arrived he had only been humming.

He scrunched up his nose, obviously displeased with either me or him. He then went on demand why I wanted to know.

I told him that I was merely curious, because it sounded so familiar yet I could not for the life of me remember where I had heard it. Inside I already regretted asking my question. His intense stare unnerved me and I wished he was still singing his beautiful songs instead, so that I could listen and disappear in the sounds.

He did a one over of me, looking for something. I don’t know if he found it or if it was the lack of finding that he found comforting, considering he shrugged and went back to scrubbing the deck and ignoring me like he had done before.

The moment he broke eye contact something inside me snapped. I had asked him an innocent question and instead he had turned it around and interrogated me like I was a suspect. I’m not sure if I was mad at him for questioning me or at myself for letting him. But still, I cleared my throat and told him that I answered his question, so he would have to return the favor.

He looked back up to me with a raised brow, there was a mix of annoyance and condescending affection in his eyes as he told me that we never agreed on those terms and I voluntarily answered his questions. He smirked at me and I could have sworn there was an edge to his teeth, but memories twist and in the darkness of the night the mind does funny things to your surroundings.

I have to admit I floundered for a second. Seán was about to turn back to his work when I stopped him, finally finding my words again. I asked him if he would be so kind to give me the answer to my question anyway, because he had sounded so beautiful and if the memory was half as beautiful as his voice, then it was a memory worth remembering.

The flattery, although not untrue, worked. He laughed, it was a pretty laugh, yet there was an undertone I couldn’t place, like he was in on a joke, I hadn’t made. He then told me that his mother had taught him the song with a hint of a smirk on his face.

I wondered out loud how I could have known it then. He shrugged again and told me he didn’t know, but his tone was one of an adult, who was indulging a child. I didn’t like it, but I couldn’t bring it up to counter him. I was still rooted to the floorboards, pinned down by his voice and I was only released from my guarding post when Seán decided that this part of the ship was clean enough and moved on. Leaving me alone with just a memory.

**Author's Note:**

> The song here is made up, I just wrote something that fit with the vibe of the story and hoped for the best (I am not a music person)
> 
> Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it and I will adore you forever if you leave Kudos or a Comment!!


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